Tag: Asexual rep

30 Days of Pride: Asexual and aromantic books

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Hi everyone,

It’s Day 21 of Pride month and I am nowhere near my reading goal of beating last year’s 15 books read during June. However, what I have read so far has been amazing, plus one of the books was Priory which basically counts as three seperate books. Day 21 has also been pretty great as I went to the library and a bookshop for the first time in so many months and it was great to just pick up a book based only on the cover.

Today, we’re celebrating the asexual and aromantic folks among us and I’m talking about books which feature an ace and/or aro main character! I’m so happy there are so many fantasies on this list, it makes my heart so happy to see all these queernorm worlds being created. I hope you enjoy today’s list!

Beyond the Black Door by A.M Strickland

Beyond the Black Door has an asexual biromantic heroine and a dark and lush fantasy world to explore. In this book, Kamai is a soulwalker, someone who can walk through the souls of people whilst they sleep. In all the souls she walks, a black door follows her. And Kamai wants to know what’s behind it. So obviously, let’s open the ominious black door, what could possibly go wrong?! (Hint: a lot.)

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Akemi Dawn Bowman is one of my favourite YA authors (and I’m very upset that with Covid my preorder of Harley in the Sky has still not arrived). With a questioning aroace MC, Rumi, who has been sent away to stay with her Aunt after the death of her sister, Summer Bird Blue is a book that will have you sobbing (as with all of Akemi Dawn Bowman’s books!)

Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor

Tarnished Are the Stars is a steampunk science fantasy with ownvoices asexual rep. In Tarnished Are the Stars, Anna is the Technician, an engineer who supplies black market medical technology thanks to the bans on tech set by the tyrannical Commissioner. Meanwhile Nathaniel, the Commissioner’s son, vows to find the Technician to earn his father’s respect. Full of adventure, alchemy, clockwork hearts and spies, this is such a fun book!

Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller

I am such a big fan of the switching lives trope (but sadly have not read enough to make this a section in my trope posts!) Emilie is a noblewoman who wants to be a physician. Annette longs to move beyond her humble life and be trained in magic. The two swap lives, but then their nation starts a war and they both must help the rebellion to unearth the truth about the war.

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Let’s Talk About Love is a YA contemporary with Black, biromantic, asexual Alice who had her summer all planned until her girlfriend broke up with her when Alice told her she was asexual. Now she’s saying no to dating. But then she meets Takumi, and needs to decide whether to risk their friendship for a love which might not be returned. This is a cute, adorable book about friendship and acceptance.

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Loveless is a recent release which I am so excited to read!! I fail the YA community by never having read an Alice Oseman book yet (I’m sorry!) but this one will likely be my first because it sounds great. This is a book about identity and self-acceptance as Georgia starts university and sets herself out to find romance. But when her plans cause havoc with her friends, she begins to question who she is and what she feels.

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

A super diverse YA fantasy with morally grey characters, ancient prophecies and a heist to take down a corrupt council kept in charge because of said ancient prophecies who have caused a decade of murder and rebellion? Yes please.

The Perfect Assassin by K.A Doore

K.A Doore has some of the best book recommendations, they have never steered me wrong so it’s pretty awful that I still haven’t read their own books! The first two books in the Chronicles of Ghadid series can be read in any order, though The Perfect Assassin was released first. This book is all about a gay, asexual assassin called Amastan who realises he doesn’t want to kill anyone – so it’s a pretty good thing there is a ban on assassin contracts then. But then important people around the city started turning up murdered and Amastan is ordered to find the murderer so his family isn’t blamed.

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

Claudie Arseneault might be one of the most wellknown and prolific authors of asexual and aromantic characters so I had to include one of her books! City of Strife is the start to her most recent series, a political fantasy about friendship and found family. Arathiel has returned to his city, Isandor, after over 100 years elsewhere. He hides in the city, trying to find a new life but when his friend is accused of assassination he must come out of hiding to save him.

Soft on Soft by Mina Waheed

And we’re ending with a soft and fluffy romance between Black, demisexual, biromantic Selena and Persian June. And it has TWO CATS. June is a make-up artist, and despite her regular social media posts, she is very anxious inside. Selena helps calm her anxiety, and June’s two cats also love her. But to be with Selena, she needs to take a chance and step out from her safe zone. This such a cute and happy book with no angst around, which is something I definitely need right now!

Have you read any of these books? What’s your favourite book with ace or aro rep? Let me know in the comments!

Book review: Beyond the Black Door by A.M Strickland

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Title: Beyond the Black Door by A.M Strickland

Publisher: Imprint

Publication date: 29 October 2019

Genre: Fantasy | Young Adult

Page extent: 400 pages

Rating:

Goodreads blurb: Kamai was warned never to open the black door, but she didn’t listen …

Everyone has a soul. Some are beautiful gardens, others are frightening dungeons. Soulwalkers―like Kamai and her mother―can journey into other people’s souls while they sleep.

But no matter where Kamai visits, she sees the black door. It follows her into every soul, and her mother has told her to never, ever open it.

When Kamai touches the door, it is warm and beating, like it has a pulse. When she puts her ear to it, she hears her own name whispered from the other side. And when tragedy strikes, Kamai does the unthinkable: she opens the door.

A.M. Strickland’s imaginative dark fantasy features court intrigue and romance, a main character coming to terms with her asexuality, and twists and turns as a seductive mystery unfolds that endangers not just Kamai’s own soul, but the entire kingdom … 

This had all the hallmarks of something I would adore: a villain romance, morally grey characters, soul magic, beautifully descriptive language, awesome queer rep (including biromantic ace rep & trans rep). But, but, but…. I just didn’t click with the writing. Whilst part of it I can probably put down to the constant headache I had the days I read this, I also just think it could have done with a heavier edit. There was a lot of repetition, often long winded description over the same or similar items, and I think this resulted in some unfortunate pacing issues. Too long was spent getting between events with all the description, and then at other times it was if a million different things were happening at once.

What I enjoyed:

  • the queer rep in this book is poignant and beautifully developed with a huge focus on coming out when you’re safe and secure, and only when you are ready. Both the main character, Kamai, biromantic ace, and Kihan, her trans bodyguard, go through this journey to explore who they are and are allowed to come to terms with their own identity in their own time. Kihan goes by Nikha and she/her for most of the novel, until he feels able to come out and I really appreciated this representation of a more complex coming out than is usually seen in YA.
  • Vehyn. I’m always such a fan of villains, and I really liked the way Vehyn’s air of mystery developed as the villain. However, as soon as he becomes the romantic plotline, he becomes very problematic (which I will talk about below).
  • The religion: I’m a huge fan of intricate religious and political systems in fantasy, so it was so great to read so much about the religion, the history of it, and the links to the soul magic.
  • The concept is amazing! I love the idea between these doors to the soul, and everyone having their own building inside their head that perfectly represents their soul. One of my favourite bits of detail were the descriptions related to each person’s soul, they really helped charactise Kamai’s companions.

What I didn’t enjoy:

  • Whilst at times the detailed description felt beautiful, there was so much of it, and sometimes we seemed to repeatedly get description of the exact same thing (I felt like there are pages dedicated to the same buildings), it was very repetitive.
  • This was also true of the inner reflection. Because so much of the time was spent in Kamai’s head, the scenes with Veyhn felt very repetitive.
  • This was part of what led me to not appreciate the romance as much as I thought I would. Whilst I like Vehyn as a villain, the romance felt under developed (perhaps because all the scenes seemed to be the exact same to me so all merged to one), but also, the relationship is clearly abusive and…you can make a villain romance without that?! I’m all for villain romances, when done well, I love them. But here, it fell into the issues of abuse and grooming and I really didn’t enjoy it.
  • I could also never get over Razim’s creepy behaviour as a 14 year old trying to get with his 11 year old sister… Just no. I couldn’t stand him the whole way through for this reason. But it seems to just be this thing that’s explained as ‘oh well they’re not really brother and sister so it’s okay that he spends the entire novel trying to fuck her’. It is attempted to explain why near the end, but I still felt very uncomfortable for a lot of the novel.

All in all, there are some great things about this book, but also some not great things. I really appreciate the representation in this book, I think it is handled so well, which makes it so much more difficult for me to highlight some of the things that made me very uncomfortable, because I can see this rep being so needed in YA. It’s definitely a book I can see many people enjoying, but ultimately, I think there were issues with relationship handling, repetition and pacing.

Book review: Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

Rach @ Anxious Nachos1 Comment

Title: Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Publication date: 29 October 2019

Genre: Contemporary | Young Adult | Romance

Page extent: 290 pages

Rating:

Goodreads blurb: In a community that isn’t always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love–and lust–for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.

Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.

Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.

Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on…

Full Disclosure is a book which looks at the impact of HIV in a modern setting. It is both a fun and hilarious YA contemporary as well as a timely reminder about the fear of HIV still prevalent in our society.

Simone is our protagonist. She has had HIV since she was born, passed on from her birth mother. She has recently moved to a new school after her HIV status was revealed and everyone turned on her at her last one. Now, someone at her new school is blackmailing her, threatening to reveal her secret if she doesn’t stay away from Miles, the boy she’s crushing on.

Simone really is the star of this book. She exudes energy on every page. Her interactions with both her best friends, Claudia and Lydia, as well as Miles, were hilarious. Full Disclosure really captures what’s it’s like to be a teen and discovering your sexuality. From the sex shop scene to the constant jokes about sex in her friend group, it feels so real. I love how Camryn wasn’t afraid to shy away from talking openly about sex and masturbation as a teen. It’s abundantly obvious this was written by a teen, by someone with a clear understanding of how teens actually act – because Simone’s voice, the characters, their interactions, they all sound like teens. It was very refreshing to read!

Miles is also an absolutely adorable and lovely character. His sincere support and love for Simone, and the way he tries to watch musicals so he can know more about what Simone enjoys is just wonderful! He is like the opposite to your traditional moody white boy YA love interest and I LOVE HIM.

The casual diversity in this book is incredible. From Claudia’s asexuality to Lydia’s bisexuality, Simone’s two dads, Simone’s own exploration of her queerness, to the conversation at the GSA about whether you can be a non-binary lesbian, it really shows the range of diversity within the queer community. I wasn’t expecting the internalised (and external) biphobia in the book, it hasn’t been mentioned in any of the other reviews I’ve read. It is challenged at the end of the book, but just note there are some discussions about the validity of bisexuality and what makes you “queer”. Claudia makes some nasty comments in the heat of an argument, as well as Simone’s ex, Sarah. I appreciate and understand the need for discussions such as this in YA, however it did make me feel a little sad about this book. I feel like every book I’ve read this year that deals with bisexuality has the same thing, and I’ve just gotten a little tired of reading biophobic lines this year. But as I say, I understand the importance, I’m just personally not really in the place to read books that deal with this issue right now.

There was also quite a few heavy info-dumping sections. These generally were when there was medical info to give, and whilst it was interesting to hear about U=U etc, I feel there could’ve been a more natural way to do so rather than the very large info dump at the start of the book.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed Full Disclosure! It brought the experience of HIV into a modern setting, which I don’t think I’ve read in a YA before. Simone is a fantastic character, and the heavy issue driven nature of this book was lightened by the hilarious discussions about sex. Great debut and I will definitely keep an eye on what Camryn Garrett writes next!